He’s won the hearts.
The minds will take some more time, and some victorious football games.
Nick Rolovich is great at marketing, and I’m not saying that just because he took a bunch of his guys to Costco locations the other day.
That was the new University of Hawaii coach’s latest brilliant PR stroke, having big strong football players help little old ladies with their groceries. It was also smart since it allowed many players new to Hawaii get to know their fan base, and vice versa.
Who knows? Maybe we’ll see Rolo and crew out on the streets waving signs in this election year. Nah, he’s too smart for that. Plus, he’s already won the one-person vote that counted, that of athletic director David Matlin. (By the way, did a local politician really mobilize his sign wavers in an attempt to improve distracted driving awareness? That makes me want to move into his district just to vote for his opponent.)
Rolo won the offseason, despite losing his best defensive player and not coming out of spring practice with a starting quarterback. The community engagement made a lot of people forget about stuff like that.
Letting kids run onto the field with the players at the spring finale, Pokemon Go with the Warriors, Ladies Night. There was undeniably a disconnect with the fans during Norm Chow’s four years, but people are plugging back in now.
The emotion and commitment is genuine, and it’s what we expected from Rolovich … even as a player 15 years ago his personality was equal parts tough guy and affable people person, a reflection of our state’s culture.
He hit a grand slam at his introductory press conference. Comparing the reclamation project he’s embarking upon to Pride Rock in The Lion King resonated with Hawaii fans of all stripes.
But reality looms. The preseason poll of media covering Mountain West football is a stark reminder that although UH won its first game and its last in 2015, the impression it made in the middle of 0-8 in conference play is indelible.
Hawaii has seen worse. That is good and bad.
In 1998, the Rainbows hit absolute rock-bottom at 0-12. UH fans couldn’t get a song from 1985 out of their heads, because, yes, all they needed was a miracle — and somehow they got it, with June Jones’ hiring and his orchestration of what was then the biggest turnaround in college football history.
So, that means the fans have hope. Or, you could call it expectations. Whether they’re reasonable, that’s another question entirely.
Going to Australia, Michigan and Arizona for three of the first four games will help UH athletics in the balance sheet, but this football team doesn’t have the depth to come out of that gauntlet the better for it on the field.
That’s why I’m among those who picked Hawaii to finish last in the West Division (you can see the rest of my Mountain West preseason poll at my “Quick Reads” blog).
Nick Rolovich can rebuild this program, but it will take time. And the front-loaded schedule — similar to the one that wrecked last year’s team preconference — makes a quick fix like that of 1999 all the more unlikely.
Reach Dave Reardon at dreardon@staradvertiser.com or 529-4783. His blog is at Hawaiiwarriorworld.com/quick-reads.
